In this episode of The Intelligent Leader, host Shashank Garg sits down with Ali Miller, VP of Ads Product at Instacart, to explore the rapidly transforming world of retail media. With a background at Google and YouTube, Ali brings a unique lens to how technology, data, and commerce intersect in building an impactful advertising ecosystem.
Ali shares how Instacart is expanding its retail media platform across thousands of partners, leveraging AI and ML to drive real-time personalization while maintaining consumer trust and data privacy. She discusses key strategic bets, such as their CTV campaigns with NBC and their use of clean rooms to preserve user privacy. The conversation offers deep insights into incrementality measurement, full-funnel ad strategies, and where generative AI fits in the future of retail.
This episode is a must-listen for leaders in e-commerce, advertising, media, and data science looking to understand the full scope of what's next in digital commerce.
Key Quotes:
"Creating these shoppable moments where you can inspire someone while they're watching the Paris Olympics, for example, which was when virtual concessions really came to life and helping to kind of, you know, just enrich that experience by making it not just a typical ad experience, but hey, like get your snacks to watch with the incredible game that you're about to see on your tv.
You know, it's easy to fall in love with technical solutions. It's easy to get excited about, oh, this capability that we have that we didn't have before, but. Only once it's really connected to something of value, that's where we're starting to see it come to life more."
-Ali Miller
:Using generative AI to create much more metadata, much more context and supplement, you know, your products and transactions with additional metadata that is gonna further make your AI better.
The future of personalization is less about more data and much more about smarter joints. And who you join with, how you align your purpose, and how you will continuously learn from these signals to make it better next time."
-Shashank Garg
Time Stamps:
- (02:28) Ali Miller's Role at Instacart
- (06:23) Challenges and Innovations in Retail Media
- (15:00) Privacy and Personalization in Advertising
- (20:30) Generative AI and Future Trends
- (36:16) Looking Ahead: Trends and Advice
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